March 9th, 2010 | 
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Sciatica occurs due to the compression at the base of the spine. This compression leads to pain in the lower back and gluetal region of the body. This pain travels to ankle, calf, thighs and knee. Real Sciatica happens when the pain reaches the knees and the ankles. Sciatica actually is the pain that moves through the sciatic nerve – the longest nerve in your body. This nerve starts from your spinal cord to your hips and down to the leg. The pain therefore moves along this nerve and the parts of body it connects. Sciatica actually may not be problem in itself. It may have other inherent causes which are connected to the sciatic nerve like herniated disk.
Sciatica can reduce your mobility and normal daily activities considerably. The duration of the pain varies according to the inherent cause and may subside in 4-8 weeks time. However, there is no need to loose hope. There are many sciatica treatments both clinical and home based which can help cure and manage sciatica and reduce pain.
Common Sciatica Treatments
Bed Rest
The most common sciatica treatment suggested by doctors is bed rest. It helps in relieving pain. However, only taking bed rest is not going to solve the problem fully. You should combine rest with physical activity that is enough to keep you active without aggravating the pain.
Exercise
After the reduction in pain, doctors suggest exercises and physiotherapy to avoid the recurrence of the problem. These exercises are mainly aimed at improving your mobility, rectifying your posture and in making the muscles around your lower back strong.
Medicines
The pain can be treated with anti inflammatory non steroidal dugs combined with drugs that relax muscles. Anticonvulsant drugs and Tricyclic antidepressants are also prescribed to reduce pain. These drugs work in two ways – by blocking the sensations in reaching your brain – and by producing endorphins that naturally help reduce pain.
Steroid Based Treatments
Sometimes, the doctors also prescribe epidural or corticosteroid steroid injections to help reduce inflammation in the effected areas.
Surgery
Surgery also brings relief to patients. Surgery is performed when the pain does not subside even after rest, medications or other forms of treatment and the nerve compression leads to other problems like extreme weakness and bladder incontinence etc
Alternative Sciatica Treatment
Many alternative sciatica treatments like yoga, acupuncture, acu-pressure and biofeedback therapy also exist. These alternative treatments are very effective in curing your sciatica problem.
Sciatica Treatment At Home
There are many home based sciatica treatment too. Some of them are very effective in curing your sciatica pain quickly. For example ice treatment is very effective in controlling sciatica pain if it is used with in 48 hours of the onset of pain. Movement is also a good option in reducing pain. Doing exercises that stretch piriformis muscles are helpful in controlling sciatica pain. Balancing your pelvis region properly also helps in controlling pain. You can do this by lying down on the bed to check whether the balance is properly distributed on both sides.
These sciatica treatments can help in curing and reducing your sciatica pain.
Neil Jones
http://www.articlesbase.com/medicine-articles/sciatica-treatments-that-really-help-756234.html
Posted in spinal surgery
5 Responses to “Sciatica Treatments That Really Help”
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Treatment for sciatica in early pregnancy?
I am 12 weeks along with twins and last night I woke up with a terrible pain in my left lower back and butt cheek. The pain is horrible and nothing I’ve tried so far has helped – a warm bath, heating pad, and tylenol. I will be calling my doctor this morning once she gets in, but in the meantime, is there anything else I can do? From what I’ve read it sounds like sciatica, but I’ve never experienced that before so I’m not sure. I really need some relief. I have a 2 year old with asthma to take care of, and my husband is out of town. Any suggestions?
There isn’t anything your doctor can do for sciatica.
And unfortunately that’s exactly what you’re experiencing.
The most they’re going to tell you is to elevate your legs and lay on your left side.
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That is painful! I never had it with my first child. She was a breeze . I had sciatica early on in my pregnancy. At first I had no idea what it was and Googled it. I don’t usually cry when in pain but with sciatica I did cry. It past after 3 weeks. My midwives confirmed it was sciatica and said it should go away within 2 weeks,but it was 3 weeks when it finally went away. My family doctor told me to take Tylenol but I never did.
I was lucky cause my only other child is 16 so I could rest when I needed to. You could try Tylenol if its okay with your doctor. I just let it past and hopefully for you it will pass quickly.
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My chiropractor help me with mine. He even showed me some at home movements to help relieve the pain. Worked wonders.
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i suffered from sciatica in my second pregnancy and unfortunately there isn’t alot you can do while your pregnant.i found it worse at night. i still had the pain after i had my son and i went to the doctor who pescribed strong painkillers for it. i didn’t have to take them for long tho as it eased off after a few weeks. i still suffer with it now and again.
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